Jingo-ji temple’s Takao Mandalas to go on display for first time after major repairs

Celebrating the 1,250th anniversary of the Buddhist priest Kukai (Kobo Daishi)’s birth, in 2024, the Nara National Museum (Nara city) is holding a special exhibition featuring esoteric Buddhist treasures — mandalas, ritual implements, paintings, sculptures, calligraphy, documents, etc. — associated with the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism in Japan.

Kukai (774-835)　The early Heian-period priest, posthumously known by his title Kobo Daishi, was born in the old Sanuki province (modern-day Kagawa Prefecture) during the Nara period. In 804, he traveled to Tang-dynasty China as an Imperial envoy (kentoshi), where he acquired a systematic knowledge of esoteric Buddhism. Kukai returned to Japan in 806 and later founded the Shingon school of Buddhism. Known to have been versatile, he is also renowned for his art and calligraphy.

Special Exhibition
Celebrating the 1,250th Anniversary of Priest Kūkai’s Birth

KŪKAI
The Worlds of Mandalas and the Transcultural Origins of Esoteric Buddhism

Apr 13 (Sat) – Jun 9 (Sun), 2024

Nara National Museum
(Nara city)

*See outline below for details

At “KŪKAI – The Worlds of Mandalas and the Transcultural Origins of Esoteric Buddhism,” the exhibition scheduled for Apr. 13 through June 9 in 2024, the must-see will be the “Mandalas of the Two Worlds” of Jingo-ji temple in Kyoto (commonly known as the Takao Mandara), which is the oldest ryokai mandara (mandalas of the two worlds) remaining in Japan, and the only existing mandara said to have been designed by Kukai himself. The government-designated national treasure is going on public display for the first time after the mandalas shown here (top photos) were went under conservation for six years starting in 2016.

The seated statues of “The Five Wisdom Buddhas” (Ansho-ji temple, Kyoto) are also among the 30 or so designated national treasures to go on display in the exhibition. Among the 60 or so designated important cultural properties to be exhibited are the seated statue of Fudo Myo-o (Shochi-in temple, Wakayama Prefecture) and “The Illustrated Biography of Kukai” (To-ji temple, Kyoto). Also noteworthy are items borrowed from museums in neighboring countries such as the “Sculptural Mandala of the Diamond World” (National Museum of Indonesia), a three-dimensional representation of the Buddhist cosmos.

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